Doug Hansford, 12, singing Amahl in 'Amahl and the Night Visitors,' gets some tips from Dr. Jim Sammarco, who sang the role 60 years ago, with members of Madcap Puppets as the Three Wise Men.

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Dr. Jim Sammarco never forgot the advice he received from composer Gian Carlo Menotti when, as a young boy, he was learning the lead in Menotti's opera, "Amahl and the Night Visitors."

"He said, 'Don't step on your cloak!'" Sammarco recalled. "We were doing a dress rehearsal, and right after the discourse between Amahl and his mother, I got up and I put the crutch down, right on top of my cloak."

Sammarco, 72, now an orthopedic surgeon, was reminiscing about a role he played 60 years ago as a boy soprano. He was barely 12 when he became one of the first boys chosen to sing the role of Amahl, the crippled ...